Soft Fur, Soft Heart
by Angevon
Summary: "When an animal doesn't like you," Kanji said, "you can't help but feel like maybe something's wrong with you." Kanji just wants to be friends with Koromaru. Is that so much to ask for?


[AN: This takes place in the Persona Q universe, I guess around the fourth dungeon. No real spoilers, though.

Every time Koromaru backs away from Kanji in PQ, it makes me really sad. I haven't finished the game yet, so I don't know if they do eventually become friends. But as it is, I just had to write this!]

* * *

><p>Ken Amada walked down the third years' hall of this pseudo-Yasogami High School and stopped in his tracks. He hadn't expected to see Kanji up here. The bleached-blond boy had his back turned to him; he seemed to be looking at the prizes for one of the game booths. They were a bunch of stuffed animals.<p>

Ken was about to offer to play the game with him when he heard the older boy sniffle and wipe his nose on his sleeve. He frowned, because Kanji was too tall to have any real reason to cry. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Kanji jumped in surprise. Then he turned away quickly to hide the tears he was wiping away. "Nothin'," he answered, his voice dry. "It's nothin'. You wouldn't understand."

"Oh, an adult problem, huh?" Ken asked, his tone bitter. He was being treated like a kid, once again...

"Nah, it's not that, but..." Kanji sighed heavily. "You're friends with Koromaru, so..."

Ken's brow knit in puzzlement. "Huh?"

"When an animal doesn't like you," Kanji said, "you can't help but feel like maybe something's wrong with you."

"Kanji-san...?"

Kanji avoided Ken's eyes, and his shoulders were hunched over. He wiped his eyes one more time and took a long moment to continue in a voice so unexpectedly subdued that Ken had to strain to hear him. "I thought, after meetin' Senpai and joining his team, that I was starting to get everything together, but then Koromaru ran away from me like that earlier when I offered to walk him, and damn, it really hurt. Set me back a bit."

"You want to be friends with Koromaru?" Ken asked.

"Y-yeah," Kanji admitted. "But I guess I'm too big an' scary, huh?" He looked down at his feet, dejected. "It's all well and good to tell me, 'He just needs to get used to you,' but how is that gonna happen when I never get any chance to be near him?"

Ken looked up at him. "Listen, Kanji-san. Koromaru is a very special dog, and sometimes he seems like he's human, but he really is a dog. You'll have to befriend him like you would any other animal."

"H-how?" Kanji asked.

"With treats!" Ken declared. He pulled some out of his pocket and handed them to Kanji. "Here, these are some of the treats Shinjiro-san uses. Oh, but just having them isn't enough. Even with them, he might not come up to you immediately. You'll have to be patient."

"I can be patient, yeah," Kanji said, his expression brightening. "You can't knit a sweater overnight."

"Listen, then," Ken told him. "Here's the plan!"

* * *

><p>Kanji was so nervous while waiting for Ken to fetch Koromaru that he accidentally snapped one of the dog treats that he was fidgeting with in half. They were little bone-shaped cookies and he had a suspicion that Shinjiro had made them himself.<p>

It wasn't long before Ken returned with the dog in tow. However, the dog stopped several feet away from Kanji. Kanji bit his lip. Yeah, this was going well already. He should probably give up while he was ahead.

And the sympathy in the kid's eyes wasn't doing anything for his self-esteem. "Err," Ken said. "Koro! Kanji-san has something for you."

"Y-yeah," said Kanji. "You're such a good boy, so, err, here's a treat." Kanji held out one of the cookies in the tips of his fingers and offered it to the dog.

Of course, Koromaru made no move to take it from him, but the dog was eyeing it with interest. He woofed, possibly in complaint.

But Ken had warned him this might happen and had given him a plan of action. Kanji slowly set the treat on the ground, and then backed away several steps.

The dog looked around the hallway, as if sensing some sort of trap, and eventually stepped forward, sniffed the cookie, and then began to eat the cookie.

Kanji let out his breath in relief. At least the dog would accept treats handled by him! It was a start, right?

"Oh, Koro, you're making me hungry!" Ken stated haltingly. "I think I'll go get a snack of my own. I'll be right back, okay?"

Koromaru wagged his tail, but since he was still munching on the cookie, he didn't follow the boy when he left.

Now Kanji was alone with the dog and he wasn't really sure what he should do next. 'Talk to him, quietly!' Ken had stressed.

"Y-you like that, huh?" Kanji tried. "They smell pretty good." Kanji lifted one of the cookies to his nose, but he didn't consider eating it. This Culture Festival had a decent enough variety of food, so he wasn't starving. "Y'know, I thought you might've been the one who took Chie-senpai's meat jelly."

Done with his treat, Koromaru turned around and looked after the hallway Ken had gone down.

"Err, b-but I bet even you have standards, don't'cha? I love meat as much as the next person, but you gotta draw the line somewhere, right?"

Kanji scratched his head and sighed. Koromaru wasn't even listening to him. This clearly wasn't working.

"W-well, I got another treat, so..." He placed it on the ground and stepped away again. Koromaru turned his head and watched him for a moment, then curiously approached the treat and began to eat it.

Kanji leaned against the wall behind him and then slid down it until he was sitting on the floor, his long legs stretched out in front of him. He watched Koromaru eat from the distance. The dog was a beautiful shiba inu, wasn't he? Even with those albino red eyes. His coat looked well taken care of. He probably had Ken to thank for that. A boy and his dog. They made a good duo, that's for sure.

Koromaru finished the cookie and was now looking at Kanji with faint hope. Kanji held out another at arm's length, but Koromaru was still reluctant to approach him, so Kanji set it on the floor and slid it towards him. The dog intercepted it with a paw and then flipped it up and caught it in his mouth.

"Bet you miss having the grass under your feet," Kanji murmured. "Digging in the dirt, and sniffing the breeze. Being trapped in a school, it's no place for a dog. It's the last place I wanna be, too."

Though Koromaru was still eating the cookie with relish, maybe his eyes glanced at Kanji for a second.

"You'd like Inaba," Kanji continued. "We got lots of fields to run through, and lots of cats to chase, though don't tell Senpai that. He's a cat person."

Koromaru wrinkled his nose as if he understood.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Kanji smiled awkwardly, and the dog wagged his tail once. "You know, Chie-senpai has a dog. His name's Muku. I bet you'd be friends. He loves going for walks along the river. Oh, you done? Have another." Kanji slid another cookie towards the dog. "Don't eat it so fast, man, I only got one more."

Koromaru woofed softly in acknowledgment.

Kanji leaned his head back against the wall. "I wonder what's goin' on back home, though. Did we all, like, disappear suddenly? Did time stop or something? I mean, you guys are from two years ago. I don't get it at all, but... I know Senpai's worried about Nanako-chan, and I'm... I'm getting worried about my Ma."

The dog whined, and Kanji continued. "Yeah, my Ma runs a textile shop, and I help her out a lot. Hope she doesn't think I got into any trouble. Well, I guess we did get into trouble, didn't we?" He sighed. "I'm tired of worryin' her so much, y'know? She's worked real hard to raise me on her own, and what thanks do I give her? Nothin' but the police knockin' on her door..."

Kanji closed his eyes with another sigh. "Tch," he said. "I'm a real piece of work, ain't I? It's no wonder you don't wanna hang out with me."

A long moment later, he felt weight on his outstretched leg. He opened an eye to see Koromaru tentatively setting a paw on him. The dog was looking at his face.

"Wh-what? Oh, do you want the other cookie?" Kanji opened his hand and slowly brought the last one up towards Koromaru's snout.

But the dog nosed Kanji's hand away, snubbing the treat completely. Kanji blinked, and the dog pushed forward until he was sitting quite comfortably in Kanji's lap. Kanji raised his arms in alarm, wondering what was going on here. Then the dog looked up at him expectantly.

Kanji's eyes widened in realization. "Oh! You mean... C-can I pet you?"

Koromaru licked Kanji's chin.

Kanji slowly brought his arms down and hugged the dog, careful not to hug him too tightly. And this time, the tears that sneaked out of his eyes were brought on by happiness.


End file.
